


Below Her Payscale

by tielan



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Beginnings, First Meetings, Gen, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-25 17:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/641461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tielan/pseuds/tielan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>First meetings, brisk debriefing, and getting the job done.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Below Her Payscale

This time when Steve arrives on the helicarrier, his escort is a woman with cool grey eyes that colour blue against the reflected sky. He dredges her from memory – Lieutenant Hill. Phil Coulson called her 'Maria' with a note of pride and what Steve now thinks might have been affection.

It hurts to think of Coulson – serious and earnest, with an awkwardness at odds with the respect he received from the rest of SHIELD.

There's none of that tentative reaching out here. Lieutenant Hill gives him a brief nod of the head, no handshake.

"Captain Rogers."

"Lieutenant. Thanks for coming out to meet me."

"I'll be taking you through your induction to SHIELD," she says without preamble, her voice low and throaty. "Since we're not listing you as an agent proper, you won't be doing the basic training for new recruits.”

A little surprised by the lack of small talk, Steve asks the first question that comes to him. “What am I being listed as, then?”

“SHIELD Special Consultant. You’ll be taking courses in modern warfare since things have changed since your time, and there’ll be some training with current SHIELD Ops teams. Any questions?”

Steve considers not asking, but he is curious. She doesn’t seem like a woman who suffers fools – gladly or otherwise. “Isn’t this all a bit below your payscale?”

“Yes.” When he waits for more, she makes a noise like a sigh. “I can grumble about tasks that are beneath my dignity and my position, Captain, or I can get the job done.”

And she chooses to do the job. Steve respects that – the concept of doing one’s duty above and beyond ego and rank doesn’t seem all that popular these days.

“You know,” she says as they enter the antechamber, “You’d have been below Coulson’s payscale, too.”


End file.
